A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems Arbor Vitae Browning

]Hi,
Can anyone explain what cases the browning shown in the attached photo? Should I cut out the brown patches and is there anything else that can be done. One guy thought maybe it was too much water but the soil was really not excessively damp. Thank you in advance!
Chabo

Arbor vitae are beautiful trees/plants when healthy. Not so much when they develop brown spots. The problem can be caused by over water, underwater, or insect activity.
I would snip off a branch that has both brown needles as well as green needles and take it to the local extension to get some help.
I hope you find a solution.

I had a cedar like that..it was an infestation of some kind of bugs. It died on me very slowly.

Have you checked to see if it's bag worms. We had a tree that started turning brown and when we looked it was infested with bag worms. We hand picked them all off and the tree revived.

Oh, thank you so much!! All the best to you

Thanks!

We finally had to remove the plant and in the process discovered that an irrigation hose had been wrapped around it when it was planted. Over time the plant had grown so much that the hose was effectively strangling the plant.

I am sorry. It is good to know, though. Sometimes you never know what takes a favored plant.

I too am so sorry.

Oh man. So weird. Tree roots will crack concrete but get murdered by a rubber hose. Nature is amazing. Sorry you had to replace it.